


When Turning Into a Dragon is a Bad Thing: Analysis of Identity Conflict in The Dragon Egg Princess

by ArgentDandelion



Category: The Dragon Egg Princess
Genre: Analysis, Dragons, Fantasy, Gen, Identity, Identity Issues, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Meta, Nonfiction, Rewrite, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28120269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: A character in the Dragon Egg Princess, Koko, who believes herself human, learns she is the last dragon in the world, that becoming a dragon was the whole purpose of all her years of training. The pressure she faces for an identity overhaul is unethical, and the only explanation for the ending is sloppy writing or child abuse.





	1. Chapter 1

  
Image of Koko from _The Dragon Egg Princess_. Art by Kelly Wang (Owolet on Twitter and Instagram).

# 1\. Thesis and Background

_Summary: The Dragon Egg Princess was not fully satisfying, partly because of how it handled Koko’s identity conflict. Koko faces unreasonable pressure to quickly overhaul her identity from “human princess of Joson” to “dragon princess, and last of the dragons”. The conflict is resolved too quickly and in a way that doesn’t make sense. The only way such quick and unreasonable identity transformation could happen is off-screen child abuse (not out of the question, though the author probably didn’t intend it) or simply sloppy writing._

In _The Dragon Egg Princess_ , all dragons went extinct in a war between bloodthirsty magical creatures, led by Luzee, and good magical creatures, led by Queen Nanami, queen of the dragons. Five hundred years later, the long-lost egg of Queen Nanami was discovered by the Queen of Joson, who lovingly took care of it. The infant that hatched looked like a scale-covered human with black eyes, who, within minutes, looked indistinguishable from human. The child, Koko, was raised as a normal, human princess of Joson. As a child, Koko was lured away into a hidden magical realm called the Nackwon, where she trained to protect the world against Luzee’s inevitable escape from her prison.  
Later, Koko learns from a magical past-viewer of her origin from an egg, and is devastated, as she had so long believed she was human, and even insisted upon it when others thought differently of her from her great magical strength. After the reveal, the specific purpose of all of her years of training is revealed: to get her to transform into her supposedly “true” form as a dragon.  
She finds it difficult, likely because it is couched in language that suggests her human identity was a falsehood. By the end, though, she manages to turn into a dragon and kill Luzee in the book’s climax, and claims, rather suddenly, that being a dragon is “who she is”, and that she is “Koko, princess of Joson” and “also a dragon”.

# 2\. The Imposed Identity

Her learning how to transform into her dragon form and wield dragon magic is couched in identity-laden terms, of what or who she is “supposed to be” or “truly is”; it’s even stated it’s her “destiny” to be a dragon. Remauld, her magic teacher, is the primary source of external identity pressures. The first time she learns the purpose of her magic lessons is to make her transform into her dragon form, there’s the following exchange [speakers clarified]:

> Koko shook her head violently. “No, I don’t want to do this!” It was Remauld’s turn to look surprised.[…] [Remauld] “But why? It is who you are. Who you’re supposed to be.” [Koko] “I don’t want to be a dragon. I want to be a human.”

Remauld later asserts: “you are not human, Princess. You are a dragon taking human form, yes. But that doesn’t make you human.” He also says she must fulfill her destiny to be a dragon because “the world needs dragons again.” (in what way, it’s not really specified; there’s no cosmic balance at stake)

Remauld also reinforces the idea Koko is a dragon or “dragon princess” in a potentially insidious and essentialist way. Seraphina, the phoenix who gives rides to some people, doesn’t let Koko ride her; Remauld explains she “would not take kindly to letting a dragon ride her” because it is “not the natural order of things. While you may be a dragon princess, Seraphina is queen of all birds.” This dialogue is particularly cruel and useless because, at this point, Koko’s had very little time to grasp this new aspect of her identity, and being the princess of dragons is surely meaningless when she’s the only dragon left.

Perhaps Remauld’s most harmful dialogue is his explanation of how to turn into dragon form: “You just have to be who you are[…]Release the magic […]that comes from your soul.” But if Koko is already “what she is”, what is there to transform into? While some dialogue or characters’ thoughts suggest one person can have multiple selves or forms, others (especially Remauld) suppose the idea of a “true” form, and that Koko’s dragon form is her true self or form, not simply a magical shape she can take on for combat.

Why force Koko to overhaul her identity so quickly? Most likely, the urgency is out of the belief dragons have an exceptional advantage in defeating Luzee. Remauld claims dragon magic is the “most powerful of all”; dragons are also called “the most magical beings in the Nackwon”, and Luzee hungered for the power of a full dragon. Luzee herself seemed to believe only dragons could stop her, and Nanami did manage to defeat her and arranged her to be sealed away, Indeed, when Luzee mistakes Koko in her dragon form for Nanami in the book’s climax, she initially seems afraid.

Despite the strategic advantages, nothing outright says Koko has to be in her dragon form to tap into her “dragon magic”, nor substantially alter her identity to wield it. Even before the reveal of her origin, she’s clearly an adept magic user, and she cast two powerful spells even after being weakened by iron exposure (iron being deadly to “magical creatures”).

## Koko Doesn’t Want to be a Dragon

If the dragon identity were imposed on Koko in a way that limited her or made her seem inferior, her situation would not be so unique: Koko rejects the identity option even though dragons are widely and greatly admired. Jiho (Page 59?) is flabbergasted at Koko not wanting to be a dragon, saying: “Who wouldn’t want to be dragon?” One kid, upon seeing Queen Nanami is a magical past-viewer, says that, when she grows up, she wants to be just like the dragon queen Nanami. And it is not as if Koko had ever been “normal”: she had always been royalty, and the heir of Joson, and her duties as such would necessarily limit her.

Still, Koko consistently values her humanity. On Page 87, Jiho and friends are awed by Koko’s display of magic and intimidation of an oni (bloodthirsty ogre-like creature). People ask what she is: namushin (forest spirit), fairy, witch; she repeatedly asserts she’s a human and grows more irritated as they keep asking. Initially, Koko had believed she was so special and necessary because Joson royalty supposedly have a trace of dragon blood. Though she was proud of this trace, when Koko learns her biological parents were dragons and she was actually adopted, making her a full-blooded dragon, she is shocked and devastated. After the reveal, Koko states she doesn’t want to be a dragon many times, becoming sad, sometimes to the point of crying, and feeling shocked and angry.

Indeed, it seems nobody in the book respects Koko’s assertion she is human. Koko once brings up the fact lots of people “wouldn’t want to be a dragon”: the dragons joined Luzee because humans tried to exterminate them. Jiho responds by talking about humans back then being unintelligent and not knowing any better. Additionally, in a burst of emotion on page 73, Koko says: “But to be a real dragon? To be the last dragon? No! It can’t be! I won’t let it be! I don’t want to be a dragon!” The only time another character suggests she might not be a dragon is played off as a joke. On page 92, Koko mentions dragons are very fastidious, and Jiho notes her grass-stained clothing and unbrushed hair and says: “Are you sure you’re a dragon?”, as a joke, making them both laugh.

There is not that much compassion for Koko’s identity conflict, either. After her outburst on page 73, Jiho implores her to come back and says she has to train, but Koko retorts: “Train for what? To become a dragon?[…]I’m not going to let anyone force me to do anything, Jiho Park!” Remauld claims Koko is scared after this, and tries to get him to understand with the hypothetical situation he claimed Jiho wasn’t Joson [Korean-equivalent] but Orion [a variety of European-equivalent]. Then Remauld points out the two of them are still human, while Koko is a different species.

# 3\. Unconvincing Speed of Identity Overhauls

By the end, Koko does manage to turn into a dragon and kill Luzee. Though Jiho tries to turn her back (using his magic nullification ability), it doesn’t work, and there’s the following exchange:

> “ _No, Jiho. You can’t change me back, because this isn’t magic.[…]This is who I am._
> 
> “What do you mean, who you are? You’re princess Koko, future leader of Joson.”
> 
> _I am. But I am also a dragon. It’s time I understood what that really means. I am the last dragon in the entire world._
> 
> Koko let out a mournful sound and lowered her head.”

There is some fuel for Koko resolving her identity, but it’s not enough for the drastic scale in the book’s climax. While it is not out of the question Koko can resolve her identity conflicts by saying she is both Princess Koko, future leader of Joson, and “a dragon”, there isn’t sufficient character-arc buildup for this end to make sense. To be specific, there are only 45 pages (page 52-97) between Koko learning she is the last dragon and Koko claiming being a dragon is. Furthermore, a big chunk of those pages focus on the bandits, not Koko’s character progression, so she has even less page count to show her changes than it would seem.

The time span problem could have been written with big time skips or info-dump narration, such as “Koko had talked about her dragon identity again, as had become the habit every lunch for the past month. Jiho observed she was crying a lot less.” However, that is not the case; the time that passes between the reveal and the climax seems much too short for it to be plausible. While enough days pass for Koko and Jiho to fall into a daily routine, there aren’t any other time cues: no one uses “weeks” or “months” in reference to the time spent post-dragon reveal.

## Character Arc Overshoot?

Within the scope of the story, there’s more fuel to suppose Koko conceives of herself as “a human with the magical ability to transform into a dragon”, rather than “a dragon”.

Dragons can shapeshift, including into human form. Koko says, “All royal dragons preferred their human form over all others, because they felt the human brain was closest to that of a dragon’s.” (p.89) Queen Nanami’s palace has smaller doors inset in the large doors, so she can enter in her human form. Jiho points out on page 89, “If the dragon queen only used her human form around other humans, then why are her [private] chambers so small and humanlike?” Clearly, Nanami herself was fond enough of her human form to use it even when not interacting with other humans; she even enters a battlefield appearing as an armored human.

Also on page 89, Koko mentions a story about a dragon whose favorite form was an ogre; changing into an ogre affected his brain, making him duller and more ogre-like, until he left the dragons’ realm and, supposedly, lived the rest of his life as an ogre. Koko’s story parallels the story of the dragon whose favorite form was an ogre. She certainly does not act like a dragon; dragons are supposedly fastidious, but Koko is not, and though it is “extremely rare” for dragons to cry, Koko cries three times in the book. Most likely, the characteristics of Koko’s mind or behavior would be the most human-like ever among dragons, having been in human form constantly since she hatched, in addition to being raised by humans.

Ina big mural that depicts several dragons of long ago, the paintings alternate between their human and dragon forms, suggesting it’s a valid depiction or recognizable expressions of their identities. There is thematic room in the book for Koko to proclaim she’s “a human with a dragon form”, and it makes more sense given the book’s scope, but it seems most people (and Jiho, for most of the book) expect Koko to follow her ancestors as a “dragon with a human form”.

# 4\. Messed-up Character Arcs & Probable Child Abuse

It’s messed up for people to reduce her to being “a dragon” and suppose her human identity or self was a falsehood. This pressure to quickly re-write her identity is unreasonable and, given Remauld is several hundred years old and surely wiser than most and has known her for seven years, he is shockingly callous or socially oblivious from an in-universe and out-of-universe perspective.

Behind-the-scenes child abuse or serious manipulation is the most likely source of the unseen “extra fuel” necessary for Koko to act as she does in the climax. Indeed, that Koko was basically kidnapped and has had no contact whatsoever with her parents for five years, even though the Nackwon has a spy that could at least convey messages by mouth, would by itself count as child abuse from Koko’s perspective, and may have forced her to become emotionally dependent on her captors.

## The Namushin

There’s a good case to be made the namushin committed child abuse on top of kidnapping and isolating Koko. When Jiho and his friends tell her she’s the long-lost Princess Koko and her parents never stopped looking for her (Page 40), she becomes still, looks sad and unfocused, and quickly sobs, stating how much she misses her mother. As soon as she starts crying, namushin show up, hum an “intricate melody” and comfort her.[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/preview#fn:1) Koko rapidly calms down, and the narrative says: “She then popped back onto her feet, her crying jag [bout of unrestrained activity or emotion] completely forgotten.” On Page 48, Koko weeps again when Jiho asks why she doesn’t return to her parents: though she says she hasn’t because she has to train, it’s for a reason she didn’t even know yet. When Koko receives word someone had a message from her parents, she ran out to meet the messenger showing just how urgent it was to her. When she hears her parents were locked in a dungeon, she wants to go rescue them even knowing it’s probably a trap, and the Namushin won’t let her go. (how is not specified; the Namushin’s words are never shown) Suspiciously, when Jiho points out the namushin kidnapped her and had no reason to do so (page 46), the namushin appear before Jiho and Koko can talk much and summon the two to a meeting…as if they knew what was happening. (They might have: namushin’s connections with trees give them near-psychic surveillance of the world) It’s also suspicious that the namushin let Jiho, with a passive power of magic-nullification, ride magically-enhanced clouds that would have disintegrated midway through the journey and let him fall to his death.

## Remauld

Remauld is also likely to have committed child abuse: he’s the biggest source of external pressure for Koko to be a dragon. Despite seeing her distress at the circumstances of her birth and assertion she is human, he says: “You are not human, Princess. You are a dragon taking human form, yes. But that doesn’t make you human.” (To be fair, his “eyes became gentle” as he said this, but it’s still ill-phrased)

Remauld’s dialogue supposes identity essentialism tied to biology. People don’t say, “Oh, yeah, the princess of Joson happens to be a dragon. That trivia is really convenient for our goals.” or “This is just one facet of your identity; not the totality.” Remauld says: “No, no, you were actually a dragon the whole time, you were just in human form, now take on these dragon duties and expectations”. It doesn’t take into account constructivism, nor does it take into account that Koko ought to have a choice about how she wants to be and the role she performs, regardless of the circumstances of her birth.[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/preview#fn:2) Furthermore, although Remauld, with all his knowledge of dragons, would surely know the forms dragons take affect their minds, it would appear no one thinks Koko having been in human form practically since birth discounts her from being fully-dragon.

The whole scene on page 74 in which Remauld explains why Koko is scared to Jiho is only ten sentences: too fast and tidy to be persuasive, and it’s not quite equivalent to Koko’s situation.

## Results of Child Abuse?

> “[…]It’s time I understood what [me being a dragon] really means. I am the last dragon in the entire world.” Koko let out a mournful sound and lowered her head.”

Although she refuses to be a “real dragon” and “the last dragon” in an emotional scene (page 73), judging by most instances Koko was sad, she’s probably sad at this moment because, by the book’s end, he turned out to be a dragon and can’t change back, rather than being sad because she’s happy to be a dragon but sad she’s the last.

However, that Koko can’t change back at the end doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t her human form be her “default” form, and her dragon form a transformation option? If her human form was truly a falsehood or addition, as Remauld suggests, why wouldn’t Jiho turn her back to a dragon on contact earlier in the story? If anything, since she hatched as a scaly humanoid, wouldn’t that be her default shape?

# How to Fix

Perhaps the easiest solution is to alter the last two pages: Koko changes back, with or without Jiho’s anti-magic help, and asserts something about being unsure whether she can “represent” dragons or what this ability means for her identity, but being happy she mastered transformation well enough to defeat Luzee. Alternatively, she could outright say she’s a human with the power to turn into a dragon, not “a dragon”, and this change of mindset gave her the clarity of identity to transform. One could also resolve her sudden ability to transform perfectly in the climax by her sudden realization that “what she is” isn’t “‘a dragon’, and her human identity was a falsehood”, but “someone who protects her friends”, and turning into a dragon was the most effective way for her to fulfill that identity under those circumstances.

Knowing how obviously and severely distressed Koko is at this reveal of her origin, one would think Remauld would instead say, “We don’t need you to be in your dragon shape forever. Just for combat. You can spend the rest of your life in your human form, if you’d like.” Or, if one wanted to keep Remauld so enthusiastic about dragons, one could make it more clear Remauld is a flawed character too blinded by his admiration for dragons and sadness that all other dragons (including some of his friends) are all dead to package Koko’s abilities or heritage in a way that’s less shocking or upsetting to her. If one wanted to re-write the book still further, one could make the twist Remauld is her father: after all, it’s never mentioned who Nanami’s mate was, it’s not stated female dragons are capable of virgin birth, and it would further draw parallels between Koko and Jiho, whose father is magically unique and also a deadbeat dad.

  1. What if “intricate melodies” are how namushin cast spells? I don’t think the namushin can use outright mind control (if they could, they’d surely accelerate Koko learning dragon magic), but instantly erasing sadness makes sense. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/preview#fnref:1)

  2. One could argue the same for a princess who doesn’t want to rule, but Koko does expect to rule, and she’s been trained for that. She may be unable to conceive of an identity where she isn’t the princess of Joson. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/preview#fnref:2)





	2. Chapter 2

In a [previous analysis post ](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1933047)on _The Dragon Egg Princess_ , it was made clear how messed-up Koko's identity conflict was. Koko was raised as a human princess, but later discovered she had hatched from a dragon egg, was the last of the dragons, and was now expected to become "a dragon". Supposedly, she had to become "a dragon", including assuming dragon form, because it was her true self or "destiny". The book's conclusion, given its build-up, was unsatisfying and only made sense if there was off-screen child abuse forcing Koko into a particular identity.

However, _The Dragon Egg Princess_ can still besalvaged with a better-executed sequel. 

\--

_Note: the following potential paths for a sequel are not the only or necessarily best ways a sequel could go. They are only a few paths or broad themes, focused on fixing the biggest flaws and assembled under the same goal as a fix-it fic set "post-canon". It is possible the author, Ellen Oh, has her own notes on how the book's characters or worlds work that could fuel a sequel._

\----

**A Few Book Flaws**

Remauld (Koko's magic teacher) and the namushin (forest spirits), as my analysis makes clear, are one of two things: some variety of “misguided” or “overzealous”, possibly blended with obliviousness or patronizing attitudes, or simply...immoral.

Some of the flaws of the previous book are how neither the namushin nor Remauld are ever acknowledged as bad or flawed in any way. In fact, not one person even dislikes them. Secondarily, the namushin (including their magic council representative, Zaki) and Remauld have pretty flat characterization and motives, a likely casualty of the book having too many characters and too little time to develop characters that would logically be better-developed or important. Most of Remauld's characterization is "wise magic teacher who admires dragons and pushes Koko into her "destiny"". The namushin are simply "kind, helpful forest spirits popular among humans that have a habit of simply appearing on the scene", and are so underdeveloped one never even sees their direct dialogue.

Furthermore, Koko's whole pressure to assume her "destiny" as a dragon, "represent" dragons, and be the princess of dragons seems pointless when she's the only one left. Dragon culture exists only as a fossil, so who would acculturate her? Who would she rule over?

\----

**The Bad Guys**

Due to their questionable motives and ways of going about them, Remauld and/or the namushin could be perfect antagonists for a sequel, and the new role would theoretically help develop their personalities. Luzee, the evil fairy antagonist of the first book, isn't exactly a fleshed-out "round character", but even she has more characterization than most of the good guys, exempting the protagonist, Jiho, Koko, and arguably the bandit leader Micah (who felt largely superfluous to the book, anyway).

_**Namushin** _

The cataclysmic war which ended in the death of all dragons (barring Koko) was initially caused by humans being afraid of supernatural creatures (including dragons) and attacking them, and Luzee secretly stoking their fears to gain more power. Koko outright mentions, just once, the cause of the first war as one reason people might not want to be a dragon. Based on this, and the fact over nations don’t have big magic forests like Joson (fantasy-Korea, basically) and have very little if any magic or magical places left, the Namushin could have a motive to attack humanity.

Although one could write them as wanting to kill all or most of humanity, the most internally consistent motive is wanting to kill those people of other nations who haven’t been incorporated into the Nackwon’s armies and are associated, even loosely, with the destruction of magical areas. Or, they merely want to restore the magic forests of the other nations, at all costs, as quickly as possible, with no care for what humans suffer and die in the process. (the spirits and spirit vines from The Legend of Korra could be a good parallel.) 

They might want Koko because dragon magic could uniquely accelerate the process, or Koko would be useful to scare off their human enemies, and they believe they have Koko’s loyalty. 

It’s mentioned the Joson people don’t have their own special sections in the Nackwon’s human armies: they’ve already been integrated into the general forces of the Nackwon because they are “magic, just like the Nackwon”. (something like that…) Therefore, the namushin could very well exploit Koko’s status as the princess of Joson to get the entire Joson nation as allies or give themselves political legitimacy quickly. 

_**Remauld** _

Luzee initially tried to drain Queen Nanami (the queen of the dragons)’s brother for power, but he turned back into his dragon form and fled. He’s not mentioned outside a brief explanation in the magical viewer. Remauld said dragons were his friends and seems really enthusiastic about it. What if Remauld was Queen Nanami’s brother, who’s been in human form all this time? What if he felt like, as the only dragon left, he had to be a _de facto_ parental figure for Koko and thought her human parents inadequate for the task? What if he didn’t want the pomp and restrictions of being the ruler of dragons, or was too much of a coward to confront Luzee if it could be avoided? 

There’s also the possibility Remauld was Queen Nanami’s mate, which would have similar characterizations. Dragons can shapeshift into humans, but what about vice versa? Koko can shapeshift leaves into toads, among other magical features, so it’s plausible that Remauld is skilled enough to change his very body, or Queen Nanami changed his body herself. It’s stated dragons breed rarely, and they were lucky if one egg was laid per year. 

Hundreds of years ago, Queen Nanami had to give a dragon’s egg to the powerful fairy Luzee as a source of magic so she could protect them against humans, before her turn against the Nackwon entirely and attempt to kill all dragons. Knowing the urgency of creating a dragon’s egg, Nanami may have chosen a shapeshifted Remauld to bypass whatever reproductive difficulties had, because a half-dragon's egg made quick was better than a full-dragon's egg too late to be useful.

Perhaps Remauld never told Koko that he sired her egg because he was ashamed that he, a lowly (compared to dragons) wizard who idolized dragons, had to be her father. Perhaps he wanted to maintain what he thought was a comforting illusion Koko was a full-blooded dragon, who only hatched weirdly because of a “dragon’s instinct to survive making it appealing to its caretakers” (his explanation for why Koko hatched as a scaly humanoid that quickly became indistinguishable from human). If Koko’s father was a magic-human, one could easily blend Koko’s identity conflict into a more coherent dual-species theme of uncertain or mixed identity. 

\---

**Koko With Actual Subjects?**

If Koko had actual subjects, her identity would be a lot more important, so Koko learning of some other dragons is a good idea for a sequel. Perhaps the namushin never found them because they live in the other nations, and their data-collecting is spotty in the nations that don’t have magic forests. Perhaps it’s hard to tell a dragon in disguise from a real human unless they’re using magic, and it takes a lot of luck to perfectly observe a candidate at just the right time. However, the dragon-folk are fully aware dragons don’t exist as a separate culture or faction any more, or their loyalties are to human rulers, or they think of themselves as “humans who can turn into dragons” rather than the reverse, so they think Koko has no authority over them. 

Koko initially assumed she was special and necessary because Joson loyalty allegedly had a trace of dragon’s blood, and the Namushin (evasively) told her she was related to Queen Nanami. Perhaps, five hundred years ago, some dragons defected from the dragon military and hid as humans. (perhaps in nations other than Joson---a good excuse to explore those in the next book) Because humans so feared supernatural creatures and dragons, they hid their true natures for many decades, even generations. They told their children who grew up among humans they had exceptional magical ability (or even the “unique ability to turn into dragons”) because they were descended from the illegitimate children of Joson royalty, who, yes, had traces of dragon blood, which were especially obvious in some people by sheer luck. Since the Joson royals sure don’t want word of indiscretion getting out (especially if the dragon-humans still live in Joson) and will use force to maintain secrecy, they should keep their unique abilities secret.

These “humans who can turn into dragons” would be an interesting foil for Koko. They would delight Remauld, frustrate him, or both. They would provide Koko an alternate identity option she hadn’t even considered under the yoke of crushing expectations/child abuse. And since Koko is not only “a dragon”, but also “a dragon princess” and “princess of Joson”, she may very well be a poor choice to represent these “dragon folk” as a whole, because she shares little in common with them. The “dragon folk” might not even be (or look) Joson in their human forms. However, one could also present them as second-generation or even twentieth-generation immigrants from Joson, only distinguishable from their neighbors at all because of their preference to interbreed with other dragon folk. (It’s unclear how long it takes for dragons to breed, or whether their human forms affect generation times.)

The above idea might allow something thematically similar to, “the only Tsimshian (Native American tribe with the lowest or second-lowest population) in the nation, who was adopted by Caucasians, and who figures Tsimshians are extinct, is brow-beaten into identifying as Tsimshian in the ‘purest’ way for Magic Reasons and is conflicted about it, but then realizes there are modern Tsimshians with very different backgrounds and identity expressions a few states away and must grapple with her identity again”.

One could probably combine “Remauld and/or the namushin are villains” with “Koko learns of humans-that-can-turn-into-dragons” into the same plot. Perhaps the namushin flush out the “Dragon Folk” in the process of restoring other nations’ forests/attacking other nations, or basically expand their tree-based “satellite vision” into other nations now that the immediate threat of Luzee is gone. (Luzee breaking out would make the Namushin’s projects pointless, after all; she would simply take over the world again and probably kill all namushin)

**Author's Note:**

> The author enjoys comments. Feel free to comment, either here or on the author's [Tumblr](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/) or [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1933047).


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